Magnesium deficiency in alcoholism.
Level 5 - mechanism / opinion, no new human data
Narrative review synthesizing physiological and clinical mechanisms without systematic review methodology
PubMed 3544909 · doi:10.1111/j.1530-0277.1986.tb05150.x
What was done
This paper reviews physiological and clinical evidence on magnesium status in chronic alcoholism and acute alcohol withdrawal, summarizing metabolic shifts, excretion rates, balance studies, and electrolyte interactions.
What was found
Alcohol ingestion increased magnesium excretion to 167% to 260% of control values. On alcohol withdrawal, reported metrics included a positive magnesium balance averaging 1.15 meq/kg, a mean exchangeable magnesium (28Mg) deficit of 1.12 meq/kg, and a mean deficit of 11.4 meq/kg of fat-free dry weight in muscle. Alcohol withdrawal was accompanied by a sharp increase in free fatty acids, abrupt respiratory alkalosis, declining plasma magnesium, and hypocalcemia that responded only to magnesium therapy.
Why it matters
It characterizes the multidimensional nature of magnesium depletion in chronic alcoholism and highlights acute biochemical instability during withdrawal, supporting early repletion alongside thiamine and B vitamins.
Limits
The abstract describes a narrative review without reporting search strategy, inclusion criteria, sample size, or patient demographics. Statistical variance, confidence intervals, and confounding variables across cited primary studies are not provided.
Cited by
- supports Chronic heavy alcohol consumption increases urinary magnesium excretion by two- to threefold.